Still Feels Like A Dream...

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Almost there, the van ride over!

I have put a few more pics from Gotcha Day and also some pics from last night.


I want to share some things with you before she wakes up this morning...*by the way, I didn't sleep a wink, I stared at her all night!!! She looked like an angel!

Yesterday was incredible. We arrived at Civil Affairs at 2:30. We paced the floor and looked out the window and then we just sat down and stared at the doorknob. We were waiting on it to turn. One time, I thought I heard someone and I nearly jumped out of my skin. At 2:59, the doorknob turned and the director poked his head in the room. All of the sudden, I was completely calm. I stood up and walked over to the door where she was. I knew her. I knew every square inch of that child. I dropped to my knees to see if she would come to me. She was so frightened. I don' t think she has ever seen an American. As you could see in the videos, it took some time (about 3 minutes) for her to come to me. She had brought the pillow that I had made her and I was pointing to it saying, "mama and baba", hoping she would understand that it was me. Finally, (thanks to Helen), I offered her a rice cookie. Helen told me everything that she would like! She finally "waddled" over to me and I honestly thought I was going to melt onto the floor into a big puddle. There is a lot that we want to say about adoption and how it relates to our Father...but we will share that later. But, it is such a tangible picture of God's love for His children. I have never seen it presented so clearly in all my life. I am changed. Carlton is changed. We know Him better than before. To Him be All Glory.

We stayed at Civil Affairs for about an hour. I was so thankful that our "gotcha" day was just our family. It was very quiet in the room and I think it really helped calm her. I could not and still cannot take my eyes off of her. We just stare at her. She must think we are nuts. We did not go to Walmart after getting her. It was just too much. I mean, Walmart can stress me out. You know? We took her to the hotel room. All was well for about 30 minutes. She played with her stacking cups (thanks Erica), she played with her doll, and looked at some books. I took off 3 layers of clothing. I kept trying to keep it slow, but, honey, I could not wait to get those clothes off !!!! The orphanage returned everything that I had sent her. So, I got all of her clothes back. YuanYuan (this is what we call her now) is very tiny. Most of the things that I got at my shower are 3t and this is good, because I know she will grow. But, she cannot wear a size 3. She is wearing a 24 month and maybe she could wear an adjustable waist 2t. When I showed her the shoes, I got the biggest smile. She is a big time "girly girl". She also loved her clothes that I brought that were pink. She loves to play mommy and baby with her dolls. She wraps them up in a blanket and rocks them in her arms. So, far, she has not said one word. Poor baby, she is in shock. OK, so yes, I remember where I was going....So after about 30 minutes, I was holding her and I heard her start this low sound cry, then all of the sudden she was wailing. Now, its hard to describe this cry. But, it sounds like the kind of cry someone would do if they just recieved a phone call that something tragic had happened to a loved one. She was moaning, grieving. It was horrible. But, I knew her pain and i just held her and sang Jesus Loves Me to her. It really did not help. Nothing would console her. This lasted for a good hour. She cried so much, her hair got wringing wet. Bless her heart. I dont really like to think about it. After she quieted down, I showed her a Chinese movie. She liked that and even smiled a couple times. Then, we took her downstairs to the CHinese restaurant and this is one experience I till never forget! She ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. 2 plates of rice, 2 plates of noodles and 4 dumplings. She also drank 1 bottle of Wuhaha and another bottle of yogurt milk. She also ate about 12 cookies. We finally said, "Bu -NO". I really thought she might pop and I didnt want her to get sick. It was very hard to say no, but I had to. She did not get sick so far. We came back to the hotel room and I gave her her first bath! She did not know what to do. When I showed her the soap, she opened her mouth to eat it. She I rubbed it all over her and told her to smell it. She loved that. *we gotta get this girl some bubble bath!.... I washed her hair. It was all nasty and matted from crying. We got her dried off and put her PJ's on. I said, "Mama layla, Baba layla, YuanYuan layla" (mama tired..etc) I pulled down the covers and she crawled up in the bed next to me. In 5 minutes, she was asleep and she is still asleep (its 5:45am) She did not cry last night, but I am sure that will come soon. We have a long way to go with attachment. She is not making any eye contact at all. (any body got some encouragement on this?) I am playing some games with her to make her look at me, but she won't hold it longer and 2 seconds. Carlton told to me to relax, its just day 1. I am going to try and carry her in the sling today.
Oh, and about her arm. I almost forgot because its such not a big deal to us. I love her little arm. I think I love her MORE because her little hand is NOT there. She is very determined. When I tried to help her with her blocks, she wanted to use her arm and do it herself. There is nothing stopping this little girl. I kissed her little arm over and over so she would know that I love her. Poor baby, she didn't know she was going to be in such a lovey family. Carlton and I are just really affectionate with our kids. We kiss on them all the time. We snuggle a lot. Thats just the way we are. We also say I Love You a lot during the day with all of our kids. (Noah is so attached to us, he won't even talk to us when we call, he is too busy playing Wii and just yells, I love you Mommy!) He knows we are coming home. He is just enjoying himself while we are gone! Hananh Grace is the same. Oh, I miss my children. Susie, smooch on them for me!!!!!

Well, today, we have to go to some more paperwork. I am not sure what we are doing the rest of the day. We will be visiting the orphanage tomorrow. *Friday I am really, really looking forward to this, although I am nervous about how YuanYuan will react.

Grace Fellowship- the orphanage director will be coming with us to pick out the air unit. We will video this for ya'll and share it at church. I think we might be doing a YOUTUBE video to be shown at church this Sunday.!!! We miss you all.

Hugs from China,
Aimee